Clear Week 10: The Data Asset

Database Management


This week's chapters have been talking about Data and how it's used and stored within a company. Data has increasingly become more important and accessible to companies which has led to more money being spent in data management. After reading chapter 11 in the Gallagher text, I got a general idea of how database management works. 

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SQL
I learned about SQL which stands for Structured Query Language. It is the most general language when talking about database management. This language lies at the very core of database management programs such as Access, filemaker pro, and even used in the open source by Oracle's MySQL.

MySQL
This is an open source database management software that has been a very popular choice among businesses and web developers because of it's free nature. Its one of the letters in the LAMP software stack (the M) and all of the programs are based on MySQL

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What is MySQL

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Week 9 Clear: Michio Kaku's Discussion on the Future of Technology

The Future of Technology
Michio Kaku is a highly respected theoretical physicist of modern times, and he was in a video where he discussed his opinions on the future of technology. He discusses Moore's Law which states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. He gives examples of computers that are being sold are constantly being updated with newer and better processors that double in two years. He then describes the implications Moore's Law has on human existence

Types of Civilizations


Type 0 Civilization 

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Kaku describes a type 0 civilization as one that can barely use the resources of a planet and is still based on non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels. Inhabitants of this civilization still rely more on emotions and ideological principals more so than science. We are currently in this type.






Type 1 Civilization
This is a civilization that can fully utilize the power of the planet and has become a planetary system. Using solar power, geothermal energy, and can control the weather and earthquakes. Kaku states that us as a civilization will reach that stage in 100 years. 

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There are emerging type 1 civilization activities that show a transformation today. Examples include the internet, which is a planetary form of instant communication. A type 1 civilization economy is one like the European Union who puts aside their political differences to become more efficient as an economy. 




 Type 2 Civilization

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A type of civilization that can harness the power of the solar systems sun and can control all of the power within the planetary system. Kaku states at this point the civilization becomes immortal because all of the known events in sciences can't extinguish the civilization. They have the power to avoid it or survive it. 


Type 3 Civilization
A civilization that can harness the power of entire galaxies. They can transport across galaxies as well. They can potentially unlock all that is possible with matter down to the superstrings and multi-dimensions. 


Michio Kaku also stated that type 0 civilizations like our own are probably not as common as others because they die out before reaching a type 1 civilization. Our ideological opinions coupled with the use of nuclear weapons have put us at risk for not making it to the next step. 


The video discussing this is below:

The Future of Technology

Excel Project

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This week I dedicated to completing the excel project. It started out with completing the scavenger hunt which was filled with answers to questions about the basics of excel and also detailing some of the more advanced functions. At first it wasn't clear to me why this "scavenger hunt" had to be done, but as I started on the project itself, that paper I completed became much more useful.




The Project!
The first part of the project required you to download the master excel file from the e-learning website. I was relieved because I had an excel project in my head that I had assumed we would have to supply our own data. As I opened the file, I realized there were TONS OF NUMBERS!

It started out easy enough, manipulating the font and changing the alignment. I did come to some trouble with freezing the panes. I found the button to actually freeze the panes, but could not figure out why it would not freeze the panes I selected. After doing some googling, I found out that the selector on excel had to be on the area BELOW the panes you wanted frozen, simply highlighting the panes to be frozen wouldn't work.The entering the functions went smoothly. I could do the absolute and relative 
functions with ease. The area I ran into some trouble was the "IF" function and after an hour or so of rereading the instructions and seeking help elsewhere, I figured it out. After that I had to manipulate the workbook to print exactly as the instructions said and I figured it out quickly (Thanks to the videos!).


The Pivot tables were easy as well, it simply involved taking the raw data and presenting it they way the fitness center would like to see it.


What I learned
I knew some background of excel before coming into this project, but I also learned a substantial amount I think I can carry over to other classes and more importantly a future career! I vaguely knew about the conditional and relative functions, but I was stumped on how to deal with them. It simply involved inserting a "$" in front of the row and column you want to keep absolute. So Easy! The pivot tables were another thing I had no idea about. I liked the ease at which Microsoft Excel was able to recognize data and words and be able to allow me to categorize which data I wanted and filter the ones I didn't need out of it.

Screenshot taken by Brad Amidon

Here is the screenshot of my pivot table of the average percent increase in heart rate from start to finish. These were grouped in to age groups (by decade). 

Extra Credit - Smarterer

One of the extra credit assignments instructed me to try out this site called Smarterer it tests your ability on a variety of computer and internet applications. It uses a scoring method similar to the GRE.


As I arrived at the site, it gave me a few options to be tested on. Naturally, I wanted to pick the one I thought I had the most knowledge in. So I chose, the Google Chrome since I've been using it forever. The questions started out easy enough, giving you a time limit of about 5 seconds on each question. I took the test and got them all right and missed one and it just ended the test. It said I qualified as "Smarterer" and that I ranked 10th on the leaderboard.
 I got addicted and took a few more just to see how I'd do. I even tried the Corporate Finance one and ranked 5th in that category.


Below are the badges:

Extra Credit - Google+ Experience

I have been a member of Google+ since June of 2011 and I have to say, I really like the entire package. Google+ has taken all of the essentials provided by facebook and more! I don't have alot of friends on here yet, but hopefully alot of people on facebook will make the transition to Google+. 


My google+ homepage: https://plus.google.com/103511755377218568721/posts


Some of the cool features:
One of the first things I noticed is the way you can group people you know. Previously on facebook, you had two options when creating a friend request, a friend or not a friend. While that may work for some people, others would rather not divulge all that much information about their personal life to someone they don't know that well and conversely not be annoyed by constant status updates from this acquaintance. The official categories are Friends, Family, Acquaintance, Following. Those categories make logical sense to me. 


Google Hangout
I really liked this option. It was something I tried within a few days of using the site. It takes the functionality of  webchat interfaces like skype and joins it with an actual social network. Another interesting feature is the intelligent design behind it. For example, I tried it with two other friends and the camera would automatically shift over to who ever was talking onto the main screen while still having your other friend visable in the smaller screen. Inside the Google Hangout was a functionality for playing youtube videos. This is something that I think is revolutionary! 

Created by Brad Amidon, using Print Screen 

Instant Queue Photos
When you snap a great photo with your cellphone and would like to share it with people, the typical thing you do is find a way to upload it online. Well google+ sort of skips a few steps here. I discovered the pictures I was taking was being stored on google+ in this instant upload area. The thing I liked about it is that it gave you the privacy you needed by not automatically uploading just any picture, but letting you scroll through which ones you wanted to post and not post. 


Facebook Poll Opinion 
The article here states that a survey showed 50 percent will abandon facebook as their primary social networking place to go to. It revealed that many aren't switching from facebook for purely reasons of innovation, they are using google+ more because facebook is making users more frustrated. I would switch to google+ if more of my friends regularly posted on there, but I don't see all of them moving over to the new site anytime soon. 


Funny Video:

Extra Credit - Avatar

One of the extra credit assignments includes creating an avatar of yourself. I think it's pretty cool to create one of these because it shows people on the web what you look like in a nutshell, and a little bit about your personality without revealing too much about yourself. 

When I used the doppleme website, I thought there were relatively few options you could do without actually signing up, but it was enough. I'm sure there are better out there and if someone gets really into socializing in the virtual world on sites other than facebook, I suggest you look into another website. 

A few of the options included, skin color, eye color, hair color, facial expression, clothes, and accessories. You could also choose a background. It was relatively easy to make one. It was a good learning experience. 

Here's a screenshot of my avatar:

Brad Amidon using DoppleMe

clear Web Services

Client-Server Applications

This week I read in the Gallagher book about web services. These services started out as a novelty but really started catching on when larger companies were investing into the technology. It basically uses various machines to access a remote server to do a variety of different tasks. In modern applications, customers can go online to purchase items, the customer will see a very simplistic version of what is actually going on (for good reason) but when they decide on something and place the order, the customer is sending a request to the remote server to place an order. It can use the logic that a cash register would use to communicate that information to the accountants at that company as well as the credit card company the money is coming from. Compared to older times, less human interaction in these financial and logistical affairs leads to less errors, less required labor, and more cost savings for the company. It also give the company multiple ways to access their target consumers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fboyd/503773218/

More about Web Services

Project- Presentations

Presentation Projects


Self-Critique 

Overall, I think my presentation was a good representation of what was in the rubric. There was several hours that went into this project and I hope there will be a good grade to come of it. I think there was a logical flow of content and the information flowed smoothly. It could've been improved by not going into as much detail about their efficiency strategy, but I felt like that really had to hit home with the viewers of the presentation. I think I anticipated questions the viewers might have had and I think they were placed correctly. A good example is talking about how they do compete with larger supermarkets and giving examples how they make the profits to compete. 
As far as grabbing the attention of the audience, I think I could've done a better job at that. I did mention how many stores the chain had and I thought the amount was pretty amazing. Somewhere I thought I also lacked was asking questions that sparked curiosity. There could've been more of that but, honestly, there are so many other creative ways of engaging the viewers interest instead of asking a question. 
The conciseness of the presentation I had trouble with at first. I could not get the time below the 3-minute mark and realized that I had to reorganize my entire presentation because there were just too many superfluous details. After reorganizing it a bit, I think I really only spoke about the core of Aldi's strategy without getting bogged down into the details too much. 
I think I did a good job of validating the claims that I did have. One example would be the low prices Aldi has, I used a survey from MarketForce which is a very reputable organization. I executed all of this without making any spelling errors, typos, or unbelievable claims. I did mess up talking a little bit, but I blame that on my nervousness when speaking into the microphone. I avoided clutter as much as possible, trying to keep my slides concise and to the point without requiring too much reading on the audience's part. I contrasted the colors very well and went slow enough to understand. I also ensure readability by using animations to highlight the area I was speaking about as I was speaking about it. 


Looking at the other presentations and evaluating them, I realized that I didn't have to do a complete talking presentation. I should've tried to convey the message other than just speaking about it. Possibly through though-provoking pictures, and shorter concise messages to convey a larger meaning. I thought too many animations and other media would negatively impact the signal-to-noise ratio of my presentation. I could've chosen to make my own presentation but I liked doing the case study on Aldi. I chose Aldi, because I was in one not too long ago and thought their strategies were very unique and "bare-boned" and it intrigued me. 

Presentation Aldi: Value through Efficiency 

Week 6: Clear- Open Source Software

Open Source Software

Open Source software is defined as "a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification free of charge. Webopedia.


Open Source Software (OSS) was first introduced and made popular to the world by a 21 year old named Linus Torvalds. He developed an operating system name Linux (note the resemblance to his first name).
The development of this and following generations of the Linux OS ushered in a new era of software development. It completely redefined how software was developed, evolving from a company-based development initiative (which was guarded much like trade secrets) to a completely free and publicly collaborative atmosphere.


Many corporations opt to use OSS over proprietary software for many reasons, a few are:


Its Free- the software used in corporations can be very costly and drive up tech costs. A conversion to open source could be very cost effective. Many Fortune 500 companies have reported several millions of dollars in annual savings just by changing from proprietary software. 

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More Secure and Reliable- When you have many people collaboratively working on developing software, it is much more likely that a bug or glitch will be found and fixed. This also goes for security issues and finding backdoors into programs. The more people reading through the code, the more likely they will find a vulnerability that wasn't previously located. 










Video explaining OSS:

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